Ed. Code, § 44986

(a) The governing board of a school district may grant a leave of absence to any certificated employee who has applied for disability benefits, not to exceed 30 days beyond final determination of the employee’s eligibility for disability benefits by the State Teachers’ Retirement System. If the employee is determined to be eligible for the disability benefits by the system, that leave shall be extended for the term of disability, but not more than 39 months.

(b) (1) Governing boards of school districts shall classify as temporary employees those persons employed to fill vacancies caused by the absence of certificated employees who are classified as permanent and are receiving a disability or insurance allowance or benefit from the system or from a group insurance plan for which the employer is paying the cost or deducting the cost from the employees’ salaries.

(2) For purposes of this section, the term of employment of the temporary employee shall be equal to the number of days of absence of the employee receiving the disability benefit.

(3) If the term of employment extends beyond this period, the employee shall be credited for all days served as a probationary employee.